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Pulled rickshaw

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Japanese rickshaws c.1897

Rickshaws (or rickshas) are a mode of human-powered transport: a runner draws a two-wheeled cart which seats one or two persons. Rickshaws were mainly used in Asia, but nowadays they are outlawed in many places and have been replaced by cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws. The term "rickshaw" is today commonly used for those vehicles as well, but this article deals exclusively with runner-pulled rickshaws.

The word "rickshaw" originates from the Japanese word jinrikisha (人力車, 人 jin = human, 力 riki = force, 車 sha = vehicle), which literally means "human-powered vehicle."

History

Les Deux Carrosses by Claude Gillot, 1707

The 1707 painting "Les deux carrosses" by Claude Gillot shows two rickshaw-like carts in a comical scene. These carts, known as vinaigrettes because of their resemblance to the wheel barrows of vinegar makers, were used in the streets of Paris in the 17th and 18th century. (Fresnault-Deruelle, 2005)

The first rickshaws appeared in Japan around 1868, with the beginning of the Meiji period. They soon became a popular mode of transportation, since they were faster than the previously used palanquins (and human labor was considerably cheaper than using horses).

The identity of the inventor (if there was one) remains uncertain. Some sources give the American blacksmith Albert Tolman, who is said to have invented the rickshaw around 1848 in Worcester, Massachusetts for a missionary; others claim that Jonathan Scobie (or W. Goble), an American missionary to Japan, invented rickshaws around 1869 to transport his invalid wife through the streets of Yokohama. Still others say the rickshaw was designed by an American Baptist minister in 1888. Japanese sources often credit Izumi Yosuke, Suzuki Tokujiro, and Takayama Kosuke, who are said to have invented rickshaws in 1868, inspired by the horse carriages that had been introduced to the steets of Tokyo shortly before. Starting in 1870, the Tokyo government issued a permission to build and sell rickshaws to these three men; the seal of one of these inventors was also required on every license to operate a rickshaw.

Japanese rickshaw (jinricki), circa 1860-1900.

By 1872, some 40,000 rickshaws were operating in Tokyo; they soon became the chief form of public transportation in Japan. (Powerhouse Museum, 2005; The Jinrikisha story, 1996)

Around 1880, rickshaws appeared in India, first in Simla and then, 20 years later, in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Here they were initially used by Chinese traders to transport goods; in 1914 the Chinese applied for permission to use rickshaws to transport passengers. Soon after, rickshaws appeared in many big cities in Southeast Asia; pulling a rickshaw was often the first job for peasants migrating to these cities.

In China, rickshaws were banned after the Communist takeover in 1949. (WebIndia, 2005)

Hong Kong

Rickshaws were first imported from Japan to Hong Kong in 1874. They were a popular form of transport for many years, peaking at more than 3,000 in the 1920s. However, their popularity waned after WWII. No new licenses for rickshaws have been issued for many years, and only a few old men--about 15 as of 1999, and only four as of 2002--still ply their trade, mainly by posing for pictures.[1]

Kolkata

Kolkata rickshaw, 2004

As of 2005, the last sizeable fleet of true rickshaws can be found in Kolkata (Calcutta), where the rickshaw puller union resisted prohibition.

Several major streets have been closed to rickshaw traffic since 1972, and in 1982 the city seized over 12,000 rickshaws and destroyed them. In 1992, it was estimated that over 30,000 rickshaws were operating in the city, all but 6,000 of them illegally, lacking a license (no new licenses have been issued since 1945). The large majority of rickshaw pullers rent their rickshaws for a few dollars per shift. They live cheaply in hostels, trying to save money to send home. (Eide, 1993)

In August 2005, the Communist government of West Bengal announced plans to completely ban rickshaws, resulting in protests and strikes of the pullers. (WebIndia, 2005)

Bangladesh

From the 1950s to their heyday in the 1980s, and subsequent slow decline in numbers in Bangladesh's main cities, the three-wheel cycle ricksha has been prolifically decorated all over the tricycle frame together with the rider seat and the protective collapsible hood. Both plasticine cutouts and handpainted figures adorn these rickshas. The major work on ricksha arts was published as a multimedia CD-ROM, Transports of Delight:The Ricksha Arts of Bangladesh, by Joanna Kirkpatrick (Indiana University Press, 2003). A complete sociological study of the Bangladeshi ricksha is The Rickshaws of Bangladesh, by Rob Gallagher (Dhaka: University Press, Ltd, 1992).

Tourist attractions

Rickshaws are a tourist attraction in the Asakusa region of Tokyo; in the main temple area of Kyoto; at Star Ferry pier at Edinburgh Place; on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong; on Cijin Island in Kaohsiung; and in areas of London's Chinatown. In all of these places, they are mainly for tourists.

Books, films, TV

Rickshaw in a museum in Japan

The 1936 novel Luotuo Xiangzi by Lao She describes the life of a rickshaw runner in Beijing in the 1920s. The English version Rickshaw Boy became a U.S. bestseller in 1945; it was an unauthorized translation that added a happy ending to the story. In 1982, the original version was made into a film of the same title.

The 1953 Bollywood film Do Bigha Zameen, directed by Bimal Roy, describes the fate of an impoverished farmer who becomes a rickshaw puller in Kolkata.

In the 1992 film City of Joy (whose title refers to Kolkata), Om Puri plays a rickshaw puller, revealing the economic and emotional hardship that these underpaid workers face on a day-to-day basis.

In the episode The Bookstore of the American sitcom Seinfeld, Kramer and Newman import rickshaws to New York City, for the purpose of running a business. They intend to employ members of the city's homeless population; however, one steals their rickshaw. The two recover the rickshaw, and Newman forces Kramer to transport him uphill, a voyage Kramer is unable to make.

See also

References

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